The Purge: makeup edition

Hello! I’m back from vacation – I’ll post some pics from the trip by the end of the week. Today I’m back with a bang! Over the Labour Day long weekend, I spent hours going through my stash to declutter items that I no longer use. Today, I bring you: The Purge! I toyed with doing an elimination style competition for items in my makeup stash, but decided it would take too long. And like removing a Band-Aid, makeup purging – while painful – should be done quickly. Many of these items had been contemplated before and made it back into the fold because I had talked myself out of purging them. This time, I’m being ruthless! These are all being purged from my stash:

I don’t want to discuss each of the items in detail because then I know I will start rationalizing why I may need to keep some of them. There were some internal debates to keep some items for the purpose of this blog, so I can do comparisons and whatnot, but that’s not really a valid reason to keep something around.

On items that I was unsure about purging, I asked myself 2 questions:
1) Have I used this in the past year? If the answer is “No”, then:
2) Could I see myself using this within the next 6 months? If not, then it goes into the purge pile.
I’ll be listing the items after each picture to help me with my inventory tracking. Here we go…

I won’t be listing all the liner / eye brushes – feel free to ask me questions about any of them – all told, I’m purging 36 eye tools:Random unopened stuff:eos in Strawberry (I dislike this flavour and have received it 3 times in various kits!)
eos in Wildberry (duplicate)
Lip Smacker Starburst Lip Balm in Strawberry Banana
Lip Smacker Starburst Lip Balm in Royal Berry Punch
CoverGirl LashBlast 24HR in Black

And that, my friends, is how you do a makeup purge! 😀 Some of these items will be binned (expired or dried-out items) but the majority will be re-homed to my friends! Feel free to ask me any questions in the comments.Don’t worry, I still have enough makeup left in my stash to last several lifetimes…

I was thinking about doing a post on my eye shadow stash since it is the thing that I do own a lot of – I should start slowing swatching and photographing my collection as it will take me awhile to do!

First, welcome back! Believe me, i’ve been looking for you until I read that you’re away for a wedding. Anyways, absence makes the heart grow fonder and you are missed! 😀
Awww, this is so heartbreaking! Specially when I’m scrolling down and what?? Nail polish!!
But you deserve a pat on the back! So brave of you! And lucky are your friends!

Thank you! I have so much to catch up on! 🙂
I know… nail polishes are difficult. I actually did change my mind about a couple of them because nail polishes never go bad anyway!
I’m glad I got rid of so much stuff, I feel accomplished! 😀

Yes, it’s a difficult process I know but as what I always keep in mind that whenever I give something ( i’d rather chose give, I could bear that more) i’m giving space for the up coming new. There, that would just be exciting.

Oh wow! That is an amazing purge 🙂 I think you did really great, I always end up keeping way to much stuff ‘because I might want to compare it on the blog at one point’…
Looking forward to reading all about your trip 😀
xx Anne

Yes, it was SO tempting to keep stuff for the sake of the blog but I know it’s just an excuse!
My stash feels lighter and I can now feel a little bit less guilty next year when my no-buy is over! 😉
Thanks!

Look at you! I can only imagine how hard this was. I usually do a pretty good job of getting rid of stuff I don’t use/like but lately I’ve become a bit of a hoarder and I realized this yesterday while trying to make room for some new lipsticks. I plan to do a declutter soon too, but OMG this must have been so hard! Good job!

Thanks! I pretty much had to turn off my brain at some point so I’d stop overthinking every item. I know realistically I will NOT use a lot of them within the next year. I can’t wait to see your declutter!

Aw, just start setting aside a few items at a time, that’s how I started these (mostly nail polishes) and then build from there. I had baggies of stuff just hanging around my place for months… finally got the nerve to root through the stash to find the rest to purge. You can do it!

Good for you for getting rid of all that stuff!
That Lise Watier palette looks beautiful…haha.
It’s hard to part with all of our beloved makeup, but like you said, sometimes you just have to be real with yourself and ask whether you are actually ever going to touch any of those products again.

The Lise Watier palette IS beautiful! I just never ever use it, and I really want someone to appreciate it more than I was. I got it during their annual online clearance sale so it was 50% so I find SOME comfort in knowing that… heh.

I get attached to things too! I remember when and where I bought a lot of the items I’ve purged… there are so many memories attached to objects. But in the end, I no longer have use for them and their usefulness is better served with someone else who can make use of them! That’s how I rationalize the purge. 🙂

Awesome purge. I can’t do all makeup and nailpolishes at the same time. Too overwhelming so good job! So since I know we both love the Maybelline Dream Matte powder, does that mean I won’t like the Rimmel stay matte powder either??

I didn’t find the Rimmel to be as mattifying as the Maybelline! Some people swear by it but I didn’t like it. Out of all the ones I’ve tried so far as a possible replacement, I liked the Essence All About Matt the best. Give them a try if you are investigating – they’re both quite inexpensive.
And thanks for all the support! 🙂

Oiy I hung onto that NYX polish in Christine far longer than I should have. You can see from the bottle that I used quite a bit of it – mostly because it was so sheer I needed 4 coats. But the kicker really was that it would chip SO easily. I do really like the colour though (but of course!) 😛

I think I literally wore that one once. Just got it for the name 🙂 It is pretty but not my usual thing. I’m so sad that NYX doesn’t really pay attn to their nail polish, anymore! They had some cool shades.

I LIKE that essence eye shadow in party all night! have I worn it very often..no…but it’s super pigmented and pretty!
I remember when SH Xtreme Wear was in the white capped bottles, think I still have a few of those around. Those Zoya polishes look pretty though!

That Essence eye shadow is good – it’s just too frosty for my liking! Also, I find it disappears on my lids more quickly than others.
Oh yeah those SH Extremes are super old. I did like them at one point but they’re just a too sheer and old now – I used to only wear those – I had probably 5 or 6 bottles of varying nudes / beige / light pinks. 😀
Zoyas and I do not get along unfortunately! I was gifted many bottles of Zoyas from my esthetician friend whose salon converted from Zoya to China Glaze. Zoya polishes just peel off my nails for some reason! I’ve slowly been getting rid of them and I think these are the last of my Zoyas. I may try them again one day but I suspect it will be a losing battle.

Sooooooo many things! !!!!😭😭 💔 brave brave woman!!!!! I wouldn’t have it in me to purge items unless they were expired!!!! But even then I would cry throwing something away Lol anywho, missed your posts!!!! Glad your back 😀

I like SOME of the RT brushes, not all. That’s the risk when buying brushes in a set… not all the brushes are shapes I’d use. So I’ve kept the ones I like but purged the ones I don’t. I use a whole variety of brushes! My most favourite ones are from Trish McEvoy but they’re pricey.

Man, good job! The thought of parting with this many items all at once gives me equal parts thrill and anxiety. Good job! I need to go through my stash and get rid of some things. I have lipstick and color tattoos that are definitely no good any more.

I agree on purging the RT foundatiom brush and those eye brushes. I do the same.

I don’t know about you. The foundation brush is too narrow for me and not firm enough for applying liquid/cream properly. That arched liner brush was way too ‘fluffy’. It had zero control, similar feeling on the liner one. That purple was pretty and I was a sucker to fall for that. Their expert face brush on the other hand is a total winner. I just don’t know what to feel about RT.

Definitely. That RT foundation brush wasn’t good for foundation or even concealer. Their brushes are a mixed bag. The only RT brush that I use regularly (and by regularly, I mean maybe 4 times a month) is the big fluffy blush brush. That thing is massive and really good for very pigmented blushes – it gives a very nice diffused application.